Altair Engineering has seen a 20-25% growth in demand from India in the last three years for its high-performance computing, design and simulation, and data analytics software and cloud solutions.
Altair leads the market in simulation solutions, their largest business in India, and has seen a surge in demand from the country’s automotive, defence, aerospace, technology and BFSI companies. Around 100 startups in drone and spacetech, including 50 EV startups, have become their customers. The company is also expecting demand from semiconductor companies, which use simulation for chip design and testing.
Altair is integrating artificial intelligence and simulation technology to speed up design and engineering processes for companies, Stephanie Buckner, COO, Altair, said. The use of simulation has spread across the industry and it has become a $20-billion industry globally. The blending of AI and simulation will augment simulation technologies, Buckner said. “Take for example, it takes around 720 minutes to run a simulation of a car crash but when combined with AI this can be done in three minutes and that is the kind of impact it will have,” she said, adding that this is data science combined with rocket science.
Altair has a global capability centre in India that develops software and tools for its products. It also serves the domestic market in India with its presence in Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi. Around 25% of Altair’s manpower is based in India. Altair’s expansion in India includes the acquisition of two technology companies — Cassini in Hyderabad and Simlab in Chennai, which have been integrated into Altair.
Buckner was in Pune to sign an MoU with the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for setting up a centre of excellence to showcase digital twin technology, data-driven design and AI-powered engineering. ARAI, which provides automotive testing and certification, will integrate Altair’s advanced simulation and data analytics tools into its consulting services.
Vishwanath Rao, managing director, Altair India-GCC-ANZ, said Altair and ARAI will together aim to drive the adoption of AI-driven engineering and data analytics, facilitating digital transformation and enhancing the capabilities of the automotive and heavy engineering sectors as they explore new use cases in electrification, connectivity and energy management.
